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A STUDY OF OERTAIIN' FIGURES 



MAYA GODEX 



By J. AVALTER FEWKES 



Repkinted from The American Anthropologist, Vol. VII, No. 3, 
"Washington, July, 1894 



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.,u,r. .5VUI.. St»C. 
25 ii J^OS^ 



A STUDY OF CERTAIN FIGURES IN A MAYA CODEX. 

BY J. WALTER FEWKES. 

The object of this article is to discuss the symbolism repre- 
sented in figures of a supposed deity of the Codex Cortesianus. 
It is believed that this sjinbolisiii is so well marked and con- 
stant that the figures by which the delineator intended to rep- 
resent this personage can be recognized, but that it is well to 
have in mind a clear conception of the variations which occur 
in difi'erent representations. I have therefore picked out and 
figured Sill'^ the pictures in this codex which I believe represent 
one and the same deity, and have examined them with a view to 
arrive at a conception of the idea of characteristic symbolism 
in the mind of the delineator. It is ho})ed that opportunities 
may come to examine and classify on a basis of their symbolism 
other figures in this codex in a similar way, and to extend the 
comparisons by a study of the other codices. 

Objects ornamented with symbolic figures of supernatural 
beings are from time to time being dug up in the ruins of 
Yucatan, and the monuments themselves are covered with bas- 
reliefs and other representations of supernatural beings. Evi- 
dently it is profitable or even necessary to have clearly in mind 
what personage is intended to l)e designated by certain symbolic 
marks as an introduction to this study. The present article is, 
therefore, simply an effort to describe the modification in 
symbolism of one deity as expressed in a single codex. It is 
intended to follow it with a discussion of the same in the other 
codices, and finally to carry the knowledge thus acquired to a 
consideration of the glyptic representations on the ruins, where 
the symbolism becomes most complicated of all. 

When we examine the figures of human beings in the Codex 
Cortesianus we find their most marked difi'erences to lie in the 

* With the exception of one figured in my article, "A Central American Ceremony," 
etc., Am. Anthrop., July, 1893. 



July 1894.] CERTAIN FIGURES IN A MAYA CODEX. 2G1 

lie:id«.-'^ The Ijodies do not greatly differ, but the drawing of 
the heads always distinguishes the personage represented. This 
is a common feature in the art of all primitive peoi)les, and the 
head is ado})ted without hesitation as the part upon which we 
can safely huild a classification of the figures. 
I I find, in my endeavor to classify this sjanbolisra, thirty-eight f 
figures in the Codex Cortesianus which fall in my first division, 
and which, for want of a better name, I will follow others in 
designating the " Long-nosed God." J The further separation 
into two groups may be a jDurely artificial one, and the differ- 
ences in the head-dresses illustrative of artistic "technique" in 
their representation by the writer of the codex. 

The adoption of the head as a basis of classification is justified 
by comparative studies. I believe all other parts of human 

* This .same principle is carried oat in the hieroglyphs, as shown by Seler in hi.? most 
valuable contribution (Cavact^res des Inscriptions Azt&qnes et Mayas, p. 7), " Dans le 
plus grand nombre de cas. ils montrent la tete de la figure en question, pourvue, en 
general, d'un signe distinetif qui ne permet pas cependant de faire presumer auoun 
rapport avec une forme determinee de uom. L'hieroglyphe du tigre montre la tete du 
tigre " * * * 

The aboriginal habit of designating the characteristic symbolism of a deity by the head 
alone has been amply illustrated for the Hopi Indians in my articles on " Tusayan Picto- 
graphs," Am. Anthrop., January, 1892, and " Dolls of the Tusayan Indians, ' Int. Arehiv 
fiir Anthropologie, 1894, q. v. 

t Sehellhas found thirty figures of the Long-nosed God in the Codex Cortesianus. I 
have figured thiriy-eight which can, I believe, be legitimately placed in this group as 
represented in the same codex. I have used in my studies Rada y Delgado's rejjroduc- 
tion of the eodex, but, have also examined the original in Madrid. 

I My method of study has been to limit myself to the figures themselves in order to 
determine the symbolism which characterizes them and separates them from others. 
A consideration of what others regard them is not passed by as unimportant, liut tlie 
codices themselves are interrogated as the sources of their information. U will no 
doubt be said that the accompanying hieroglyphics explain the figures, and that they 
should be given prominence. I have not set for inyself the ambitious ta.sk ol' deci|iher- 
ing the codex, least I should by so doing add one more theory to the several with 
whicli the study is now burdened. The figures are to me at this stage of my work like 
so many pictographs, and I simply seek to discover tlie characteristic symbolism of a 
god so that I may recognize his picture when I see it elsewhere. 

The object is to try to place before the reader the essential symbolism of the god iiy 
which he was recognized in the Indian mind. If on comparison figures and glyphs 
tell the same story, this contribution will not be in vain ; but if tlie two are divergent 
in their teaching, it is well to Itnow that fact. I believe the figures illustrate the text, 
if we may be permitted to speak in this way of the glyplis, and that at tlie present 
state of our linowledge we walli on firmer foundations when we draw conclusions 
from them than upon the doubts which underlie even the elemental theories of the 
signification of the highly conventionalized symbols. Mueli as a Champollion is 
needed in the study of Maya hieroglyphics to teach us to read tliem, and with the 
knowledge of the fact that before his time unsuccessful eflfbrts to decipher the 
Egyptian hieroglyphics by the figures were made, we cannot regard these ettbrts as 
fruitless. 



262 TPIE AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST. [Vol. VII. 

fig'ures are subordinated to this by primitive people when they 
represent the symbolisms Avhich characterize their deities. Iden- 
tities or similarities in the head are regarded as good bases of 
classification in the study of the relationship of these figures. 
Theoretically, I believe that when the symbolism of the head is 
different, different gods are represented, a conclusion which can 
also be successfully defended on the ground of comparative 
studies. I have yet to find a primitive people who fail to adopt 
the head as the part to sjaiibolically distinguish their gods, 
provided they ever do designate them either by personations, 
glyphs, or pictographs. One more theoretical aspect ought to 
be mentioned : Analogy, rather than authority, implies that the 
human figures represented in the Maya codices with grotesque 
heads of such widely different symbolism are pictures of super- 
natural beings. The constancy of the symbolism elsewhere would 
seem to prove that these grotesque heads have an important 
significance. These figures are not of men engaged in secular 
occupations, but of supernatural beings with human bodies and 
symbolic heads.* Such conceptions are paralleled so often 
among the writings of primitive peoples that it will need strong 
arguments to prove that the Maya codices are exceptions. A^ 
the symbolism of the different supernatural beings was expressed 
by personifications wearing masks in Mexico as in many other 
parts of the world, I have called the head the mask or helmet, 
although I have no authoritative evidence that a man personi- 
fying the Long-nosed God ever ajjpeared among the Mayas. So 
universal is the custom of personification in this way that one 
can make no mistake in speaking of the S3^nibolic head of these 
codex figures as masks or ceremonial helmets. 

There have been several attempts to define the symbolism of 
this god, one of the most important of which was made by 
Schellhas, whose description is, in the main, accurate for the 
Codex Dresdensis, and with some modifications for the other 
codices. Schellhas f gives the following diagnosis of the sym- 
bolism and characteristics of the Long-nosed Deity; but while 
these hold in most instances for this personage as represented in 

* Tliat some of the figures in the codices represent human beings engaged in secular 
occupations does not prevent one interpreting those with elaborate lielmets or maslis 
as representations or personifications of deities. 

f Die Maya-Haudsclrrift der Konigliclien Bibliothelj zu Dresden, p. 49. 



July 1894.] CERTAIN FIGURES IN A MAYA CODEX. 263 

the Codex Dresdensis, they are not always valid when applied to 
figures in the less artistic * Codex Cortcsianus : 

1. Die schlangenartige Doppelzunge, von der ein Theil vorn 
am Munde, der andere am Mundwinkel seitwiirtz sich heraus- 
geschliingelt. 

1 2. Das von eigenthiimlichen Verzierungen umgebene Auge. 

3. Die lange, nach unten gebogene Nase. 

4. Der Kopfschmuck, von dem sich indessen einige Abwei- 
chungen finden. 

The figures of this personage in Codex Cortesianus lead me to 
a somewhat different interpretation of the first of these char- 
acters so well marked in Codex Dresdensis. The structure 
"■ vorn am Munde," identified as part of the tongue, does not 
seem to me to be a part of this organ and is not represented in 
figures of the Long-nosed Deity in Codex Cortesianus. What- 
ever was intended to be represented 1 do not know, but in figure 
33 from Codex Cortesianus we have a singular object in the 
mouth which is comparable with the object referred to. 

That Schellhas regarded this bifid character of the " tongue " 
as an important feature may be seen from the statement on 
page 51, oj>. cit., " Er ist stets durch die aus dem Munde herab- 
hangende, doppelte, schlangen-ahnliche Zunge . . . char- 
akterisirt." This feature, which is given such a prominent place 
in his diagnosis of the deity, fails completely in the Codex 
Cortesianus, for, except in two instances (29, 33), where we find 
an object t which has no likeness to that indicated as character- 
istic by Schellhas, it is absent in the majority of cases. It is 

*As has been repeatedly pointed out, the figures of Codices Cortesianus and Troano 
are drawn with less care than tliose of Dresdensis and Peresianus. While this at times 
presents many difficulties, it seems to me to have likewise advantages as showing the 
simple symbolism intended to be expressed, for in the less elaborated worli the essen- 
tial symbolic marliings would disappear last of all. 

t What this object is I cannot say. The dots upon it recall those found on the body 
of some of the snakes depicted in the codex. The ceremony of carrying the snake in 
the mouth is known as once existing in Mexico and at present practiced in Tusayan. 

Although tlie "part of the tongue," "vorn am Munde," is well figured in Schellhas 
(Fig. 7), his figure differs very marl-cedly from that in the copy of Cortesianus published 
by Rada y Delgado, copied in my figure ?>. In Schellhas' figure it is single, resembling 
that in Codex Dresdensis. As the copy with which I have worked claims to be photo- 
graphic, and as the double cliaracter of the body referred to is clearly marked, I have 
regarded Schellhas' figure as a poor copy of the original. 

Although common enough in Codex Dresdensis, I have not found in my copy of 
Code.K Cortesianus an anterior appendage to the mouth of the Long-nosed (iod of the 
same shape as that figured by this anchor in his figure 7. 



264 THE AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST. [Vol. VII. 

interesting to note that in both these instances the helmet is 
different from the others. They belong to the second division of 
long-nosed deities. 

The following diagnosis gives the main features of the mask 
of the Long-nosed God in Codex Cortesianus : 

]•. Nose prolonged into a curved prolongation hanging down 
in front of the mouth, its lower end curving outward. In one 
instance this appendage curves directly upward, ending in a 
scroll with rectangular blocks on the outer edge. This organ 
sometimes has round spots on the surface.'^^ 

2. A single curved body hanging downward from the angle of 
the jaws. 

3. Eye bounded below by an S-shaped figure with rectangular 
marginal blocks. 

4. Trifid ear ornament. 

5. Tooth-like bodies in upper jaw ; absence of teeth in the 
lower. 

6. Appendages to the top of the helmet-mask of two kinds. 
Of these features 1, 2, and 3 are constant and sufficient for iden- 
tification ; the remainder are likewise constant, but not distinct- 
ive. The deity cannot be identified by the use of any or all of 
the last three, since they are found in the helmets of other gods. 

Five of the thirty figures of the first division and none of the 
second have a hatchet-like implement in one hand. The same 
number have in one or both hands a torch or a brazier (?) with 
flames issuing from the extremity. 

Four (11, 12, 13, 14) are represented as in the act of planting; 
one (17) holds a bowl to receive water, and one (8) empties 
water from a bowl. Six of the first and three of the second 
division have empty hands. One (31) holds a cord, and one 
(15) a forked object. Two (18, 33) hold a mask, and two (24, 
32) a lean sign in the hand. 

Fourteen are represented standing ; the same number seated. 
Of the former four have legs and arms akimbo as if dancing. 
Two (10, 16) are lying down, and one (28) appears to be falling 
in the midst of rain. One (26) has the mask placed in a reversed 

* See Schellhas' note, p. 16 (Vergleiehende Studien): " Der Kopf dieser Figur ist auoh 
deshalb interessant, weil er das an den Yacatekischen Geb.'lnden so oft vorkommende 
merkwi'indige Ornament, der vielbesproehenen sogenannten Elephaniriissel erkliirt. 
. . . Za phantastischen Zoologischen Spekulationen i.sl nicht der mindeste Anlass." 



July 1894.] CERTAIN FIGURES IN A MAYA CODEX. 265 

l)Osition on the head. In all figures the face looks to the left of 
the page. 

In several figures a dorsal object of unknown meaning can be 
discovered. This is not to be confounded with the sac in those 
in the act of planting. In this instance the sac attached over 
the shoulder by a cord is the seed bag (11, 12, 14). 

The necklace with a medallion piece with two or more pen- 
dants are found in several figures often hanging below the loins. 
In some instances it is difficult to make out whether this medal- 
lion is fastened to the necklace or to a girdle about the loins. 
The former is the more natural supposition. 'i^ The cravat-like 
bodies on the breast of figure 34 are apparently ornamental, as 
an object comparable with a medallion is suspended from the 
lower end. 

Oral Appendage. 

No figure referred to the Long-nosed God in the Codex 
Cortesianus is destitute of an appendage hanging from the cor- 
ner of the mouth, and the figures of no other deity f in the same 
codex possesses this singular organ. It may therefore be con- 
sidered one of the important characteristics. In many, but not 
all, figures of snakes we have the same structure, and in several 
instances it is the one structure absent in the figures of the 
" Old Man " Clod by which he can be distinguished. 

It is difficult to determine what this oral appendage is intended 
to represent. In several figures of snakes we find in addition 
to it an undouljted tongue, bifid at the extremity, extending be- 
yond the mouth, and resembling a flagellum. Until some better 
evidence is presented than has yet been published, one must re- 
gard this oral appendage as problematical. There is not even 
enough proof to demonstrate that it is an oral structure and 
not a foreign body. 

Appendages to the Top of the 3IasJc. 

The figures of the Long-nosed Deity are divided into two 
groups by the differences in the cephalic appendages. Their 

* See the same in clay images and stelse: Sehellhas, Vergleichende Studien, p. 15. 

friu'ee animal heads, however, have this oral appendage. One of these is a bound 
quadruped with symbolic marks recalling those on the bod3' or the snake on its back 
the other two likewise with serpentine necks. 

34 



266 THE AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST. [Vol. VII. 

differences ma}^ be seen in the accompanying figures.* It is not 
necessary for me to point out the differences, and I find no 
homology between them. It may be that no new conception is 
intended by this difference in head-dress, as the other features of 
the masks are identical, but I believe they are intentional differ- 
ences, and hence of significance. 

As an accompanying feature, it is to be noted that in several 
figures of the second kind a snake is drawn across the mid-body, 
a position which is never represented with the majority of the 
figures of the Long-nosed God and with none of the first kind. 
Likewise that in none of the eight of the second division is the 
breech-clout or maxtlatl present, with possibly one exception. 

Figure 28 is instructive from the fact that it contains so much 
symbolism. Many of these symbols I cannot satisfactorily ex- 
plain, but it seems to me that the position of the dumb-bell- 
shaped figures, out of which falling Avater is depicted, supports 
Schellhas' view that these may be regarded as rain-clouds. I 
have no new suggestion to make to those of others in regard to 
the quadrate figure between them and the Long-nosed God. It 
is suggestive that the body of the snake issues directly from one 
end of this quadrate figure. One is tempted to carry a Hopi 
conception into a study of the symbolism and regard the snake 
in this figure as a ta-la-ioi-pi-ki. or lightning, but I have not 
enough evidence to defend this theory. I see no good ground 
for regarding the snake as a cloud symbol, except indirectly or 
perhaps related to the thunder-cloud. The association, however, 
of the snake with the lightning is not a strange idea to some tribes 
of American aborigines. The association of symbols in this 
figure, more especially the rain-clouds, rectangle, and snake, 
recall similar figures in Troano (.Figs. 24, 25). 

The existence of figures with objects in one or both hands re- 
calls an important fact of a comparative nature. In his interest- 
ing account of the bas-reliefs of Cozumahualpa, Selerf points 
out the characteristic of the figures holding masks in their left 
hands. This has also been shown to be the case in other Central 

* Schellhas enumerates only thirty representations of the Long-nosed God in the 
Codex Cortesianus, which is exactly the number which I find of tlie first kind. As the 
additional eight would not fall in any other group mentioned by him, I cannot reconcile 
our differences in counting My plates include all figures of the Long-nosed God in 
the Codex Cortesianus which I refer to that category. 

t El Centenario, No. 2G, Madrid. 



July 1894.] CERTAIN FIGURES IN A MAYA CODEX. 267 

American figures, and Cusliing mentions it in an embossed 
copper plate and shell gorgets from the United States.* Among 
the Hopi Indians the left hand is that with which the mask of 
the ka-tci-na is put on and taken off, and into it the personator 
receives the pa-ho or prayer plume.f It would seem from the 
^similar predominance given to the left hand in Central American 
bas-reliefs that the custom also held among these races. In the 
figures of the Long-nosed God one or two figures hold mask-like 
objects, possibly offerings, before them in which the left arm and 
hand are shown, but it is not clear that the right hand was not 
also used or that the object was held in both hands. It is inter- 
esting that the planting stick is held in the left hand in the sev- 
eral figures where it is represented. 

In several figures of the Long-nosed God Avhich have the 
planting stick in the left hand and what appears to be seeds 
falling from the right in Codex Troano the symbol kan, with 
apical projections, is found apparently on the ground or near 
the jjoint of the planting stick. If lean in these instances means 
maize in some form, there is nothing out of harmony with the 
action of the accompanying figure. The same may be said of 
those figures as one in Codex Troano, where the same god 
empties ajar of water uj^on a kan symbol. The signification of 
kan (= yellow) does not militate against the idea that kan may 
mean at times simply maize or, as Seler insists, that the same 
has a relation to one of the world quarters. | There is no reason, 
except those of a comparative nature, to decide whether or not the 
kan symbol of the individual figure (Fig. 24) is maize. 

The fact that two (24, 32) of the figures of the Long-nosed 
Deity in the Codex Cortesianus carry the well-known glyph kan 
in the hand leads me reluctantly into tlie complicated question 
of the significance of this hieroglyph. This symbol is a com- 
nion one in the hands of this and other deities in the several 
codices. In the many different interpretations of kan it is difff- 

*Ain. Anthrop., January, 1894. 

■f-The left hand among the Tnsayan Indians is nailed kya'-kyau ina, desirable, sacred, 
and is always used to receive sacred meal and to perform na-uo'-iri wa, purification. 
The right hand in some parts of India is regarded unclean, and among the native 
soldiers of certain semi-independent princes the left or sacred hand is used in saluting 
officers or maliing salaams. 1 have not discovered that the right hand is regarded un- 
clean by Tusayan people. 

JSee in this connection the cloud charm altar with six ears of corn among the Hopi. 
(Journal of Amer. Eth and Arcli., vol. ii, No. 1.) 



2(3S THE AMERICAN ANTIIROPOLOGIST. [Vol. VII. 

cult to lincl any which satisfies all requirements, Init a})proxi- 
mations have been made by different authors. 

The most trustworthy conclusions in regard to the significtation 
of lean are b,y Seler, who, among other things, has pointed out 
that the Meztitlan equivalent of this day sign is ^^ xllotl (le jeune 
ei)i de mais)."''- Thomas, in discussing a comj^ound glyph 
(Cort. 11''), which he calls " ynah (kan) " or inah, says " the kan 
is here in all i3robability the conventional symbol for grain or 
grains of maize." Seler calls the attention to the definition of 
kaan in the Maya lexicon of Perez, " abundante, nccessario I) 
estimado, cosa importante." One of the things f in the ancient 
Maya life which was wisely estimated as most necessary for their 
existence, and as evidence would lead us to hope abundant, was 
the beautiful Indian corn {Zea mays), the aboriginal food of so 
many tribes of the American race. 

Schellhas (p. 20, oj). cit.') follows Thomas in regarding han as 
the corn symbol. He says : '' Es scheint dem auch nach me- 
heren Stellen im ('odex Troano, auf die Cja-us Thomas auf 
merlcsam gemacht hat, ziemlich sicher, dan das Zeichen Kan 
ein Getrcidekorn darstellt, oder wenigstens urspriinglich ein 
solches dargestellt hat.":j; He likewise points out reasons for 
considering it a symbol of the field of maize and the njany in- 
stances in which it is held in the hands of different deities. 

The heads are always represented with the face in profile, even 
when the body is viewed ventrally. It is not impossible that 
the head-dress of the second kind is simply a front view of an 
object shown laterally in those of the first kind. In most of the 
standing figures l)oth legs are represented without regard to per- 
s[)ective when the l)ody is viewed laterally. In seated figures 
only one leg is represented. This, however, is not a peculiarity 



* .According to Brinton, " xilotl, ear of corn." 

+ To use a concrete example for a general conception, ai^cordiiig to Hriiilon ("Tlio 
Native Calendar of Central America and Mexico"), the Kiclie-Cakchikel name of the 
eighth day is "hand, the gnardian of the sown seed," probably from kan, yellow, refer- 
ring to the yellow grains of maize." See Seherzer, Bolctin do la Soeiedad Economica 
de Cinatemala, December 15, 1S70. 

X It would in fact be a most extraordinary exception if among all the s3'mbols used 
in the codices the symbol of the maize should have any subordination in number to 
others. Among the Hopi, where the maize is likewise the "national" food, the corn 
symbol is very frequently used in religious paraphernalia. The places where-the sym- 
bol knn is found— in jars so placed to resemble offerings, in sacks on women's backs, 
'n the hands of deiiies, on the ground in front of a figure who is evidnntly planting — iill 
lend high probability to the belief that kan in one of its possibly many meanings .'■igni- 
fies corn in some of its forms. 



July J«'J4.] C'EUTAIiV J''J(iUltJ';s IN A MAYA CO)>J';X. 2G0 

of tlio aft of tlio Mayas, as in other ligures we llud seated per- 
sons with jjoth legs represented or even crossed, whicli ini[>lies 
a higher knowledge of drawing than that shown hy the most 
primitive aborigines of A nierica. The seated figures of the I.ong- 
nosed God, as those of most male deities represented in the 
codices, have the prescribed squatting posture universally taken 
by participants in Hopi ceremonials. This ]K)sture, however, is 
not a connnon one in figures of female deities, who ordinarily 
have their legs folded under them or crossed when seated.^' 
This is likewise a custom anxjng H(jpi women when ceremoni- 
ally engaged. 

In none of the figures is a neck differentiated from tlie body, 
but the head rests on the shoulders as the mask in the Hopi ka- 
tci'-na(s). I believe this lack of neck is significant, for in Maya 
figures in bas-relief or stucco where an unmasked face is repre- 
sented the neck is well drawn. It is only in those figures where 
the head Ijy its monstrous face is evidently not human, but a 
mask, that the neck does not appear. Throughout the codices 
there is rarely ever any effort to represent a neck, and in 
most cases the head or mask rests on the shoulders, giving a 
stunted appearance to the figures. This is not a characteristic 
of primitive art and may have a reason in these figures. The 
explanation suggested above seems possible. 

Figure 36 is instructive in several ways. The upper figure is 
surrounded on three sides by serpent Ijodies, and on either side 
the dependent tails of the rattlesnake are depicted, one of which 
hangs from the sign Jdii (sun). The figure beloAV has the legs 
placed in the manner generally common in pictures of seated 
female deities, and over the head bears a mammiform figure 
comparable with the figures of the breast.f In her hand she 
carries an object similar to that identified by Schellhas as a fan 
(p. 21, op. clt.'). Out of the snake's body seem Uj issue parallel 
lines symbolic of falling water. As there are several instances 
in the codices w^here falling water seems to come from the snake's 
body, this feature is not exceptional, nor is the association of the 
snake with water unusual.^ 

* In oae instance the deity lias the legs eios.sed apparently as in the ease of seated 
women deities, 
tin some figures of the tail of the snake we find similarly pointed black tips. 
:S;Such a conception is in fact almost universal among primitive people. 



270 



THE AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST. 



[Vol. VII. 



The following table gives an enumeration of the numbers of 
the figures of this deity associated with the snake or the water 
symbol : * 



1. Figure of the god with symbol of water 20 

2. " " " " " " and snake 9 

3. " " " " figure of a snake 10 

4. " " " " " " without water. 1 

5. " " " " symbol of water, without snake . 11 

6. " " " without symbol of water or snake. . . 17 



Analysis of the Above with Reference to Figures. 



No. 



Figures. 



2, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 

28, 36, 37 + a t 

19, 20, 21, 24, 27, 28, 36, 37 + o t 

2 (?), 19, 20, 21, 24, 27, 28, 36, 37 + a f 

9 (?) 

2, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 22, 23 

1, 3, 5, 6, 10, 15, 16, 18, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 



From the above tabular view the conclusion seems logical that 
there is some association of water or rain with the deity repre- 
sented and designated the Long-nosed God.:{: , As far as I know, 
the best students of Maya symbolism have regarded the liOng- 

* The figure of a snake can easily be recognized ; tliat of vva'er or rain is a number of 
Xjarallel lines, as shown in the plates. 

t Figure in " Central American Ceremony." 

t Other figures with none of the symbolism of the Long-nosed God are liliewise asso- 
ciated with falling water or rain, but in none is the relation so constant in the Codex 
Cortesianus. According to Thomas, "The si-rpent, as we know and as is made very 
apparent in the codices, is a symbol of moisture." ("Are the Maya Hieroglyphs Pho- 
netic?" Am. Anihrop., July, 189.^, p. 248.) The same author (p. 267, op. cit.), in his in- 
terpretation of Codex Cortesianus 0536), says, after calling attention to a character 
which he is "inclined to believe" . . . "refers to the eclipse of the sun:" "The 
figure below the text, wliieh shows the sun in the heavens surrounded by clouds, 
while the great plumed serpent is in the act of swallowing it." I do not wish to ex- 
press an opinion on the interpretation of the group, but believe that the reptile repre- 
sented is the great plumed serpent, as in the cases when it appears with the Long- 
nosed God. 



July 1894.J CERTAIN FIGURES IN A MAYA CODEX. 271 

nosed God as a rain god or a parallel conception with a Mexi- 
can rain god, Tlaloc. 

In my article on "A Central American Ceremony "'l' I pointed 
out the homology of the mask of the Long-nosed God and that of 
an accompanying snake. I supposed, from comparative studies, 
that the figure of the snake was that which is ordinarily called 
Plume-headed snake, and therefore my conclusion was that 
the mask of the human being was likewise a snake mask. The 
theory that the maker of these figures intended to represent the 
Plume-headed deity is supported by the testimony of the Hopi 
priests. While it is commonly said that the Long-nosed God is 
a Maya equivalent of the Mexican rain god, Tlaloc, yet there 
is little in common in their symbolism. I believe the Long-nosed 
Deity is a rain god, but likewise a snake god, as indicated by 
the mask. The printed accounts of Maya mythology throw a 
somewhat obscure light on an identification of the Long-nosed 
God, but it looks as if Schellhas were right in referring it to 
Ku-kul-can. 

Such a conception is not a forced one in the mythologies of 
American aborigines. Many instances of the snake deity as a 
rain deity might be mentioned. I therefore believe that Schell- 
has is right in his interpretation of the Long-nosed God, not- 
withstanding the identification is not accepted by some of the 
foremost students. Whether the name is Ku-kul-can or not is 
another question which is wholly foreign to my conclusion. I 
believe the '' Long-nosed God " is a snake rain god, and if it is 
universally agreed that Ku-kul-can is the proper name for such 
a conception, these figures represent this god. My reason for my 
identification as a snake rain god is built wholly on the con- 
tents of the codex, which cannot be affected by discussions as 
to whether Ku-kul-can is a cultus hero or not.f 

It is interesting to note, in connection with the possible rela- 
tionship between the figures of the snake and the Long-nosed 
God, that among the Hopi, Pa-lii-lu-koh is regarded as the pet of 
0-mow-1ih or the Rain Cloud Deity. Many of the Hopi divini- 
ties have their pets, which are sometimes figured with them. 
Of such a nature is possibly Po-ke-ma or the pet of Tuh-wup'- 

*Am. Anthropologist, July, 1893. 

fSee, for instance, the figures in my colored plate in "The Central American Cere- 
mony," identified by Seler as " Tlalocs." 



272 THE AMERICA X ANTHROPOLOGIST. [Yo\. YJI. 

ka-tci-na, represented on the upright of the altars of "Walpi 
and ^li-coii-in o-vi, as shown in my account of this interesting 
ceremony.* 

Of all the figures of the Codex Cortesianus those most liable 
to be confounded with the Long-nosed God are the twenty-fire 
called by Shellhas the '" Old Man God/'f Although the sym- 
bolism of the members of the two groups is similar, the latter 
differs from the former as follows : 

1. Xone hare the oral object or teeth in the upper jaw. 

2. The nose is of different form, never extending to the mouth 
or below it. 

3. Appendage above the nose is wanting. 

The snake is associated with but one of the twenty-five figures 
of the '■ Old Man God." One holds the parallel lines symbolic 
of falling rain. The majority have objects in their hands, but 
none hatchets or torches. The day symbol nMal is held by 
many. 

It is not possible to say that a somewhat similar conception 
did not exist in the figure of the Old ^lan God, and that of the 
Snake Eain God, but the symbolic diflerences of their masks 
are constant. 

Although the symbolic characters of the Old Man God are 
well defined with one exception, the symbolism closely resembles 
that of the " Long-nosed God."' I have provisionally followed 
Schellhas in separating the two, and find no difiiculty in dis- 
tinguishing members of these two groups from other gods 
figured in Codex Cortesianus. 

From comparative studies it might seem that in figure 9 we 
have a Long-nosed God seated in the open mouth of a serpent- 
Although there is some reason for the adoption of this theory, I 
am not at present prepared to accept it. 

Closely connected with this hypothesis is the theory that the 
God " C " of Schellhas' nomenclature, or the '' God with lines 
drawn through the face." may be a snake god. There are re- 
markable homologies between the heads of this figure in some 
of the thirty-four examples in Codex Cortesianus, where the 
theory that it represents a snake god may find standing ground. 

* Jonrnal of American Ethnology and Archspologv, Vol. ii, Xo. 1. 
t fiod with the old man's face. 



July 1894.] CERTAIN FIGURES IN A MAYA CODEX. 273 

Possiblv Schellhas" remark that this god is one of the most 
important in Maya mythology, of which one we are at present 
ignorant, may be the most conservative. I hope later to discuss 
the symbolism of this figure at length, but can here devote only 
a word to it. In one of the figures of Codex Cortesianus a sym- 
bolic head of the God " C " is represented with a radiating halo 
about it, recalhng what is known of sun feathers or rays in the 
symbolism of some other people. If this is a sun deity (Kinchau- 
hau), the fact that the s^-mbolism can be analyzed into a ser. 
pent, as Seler has so ingeniously suggested, would not be out of 
harmony. The connection of sun and serpent symbolism is in- 
timate. 

The clever supposition that the four Maya world quarters or 
cardinal points are represented by the signs on the four aides of 
the Tableau des Bacab. as pointed out by Rosny, Schellhas, 
Seler, Thomas, and othei-s, has perhaps come to be recognized 
well grounded enough for science, although the authorities are 
certainly not in harmony in regard to the determination of the 
respective signs. The weight of argument at ])resent would as- 
sign a hieroglypli over the God of Death in the tableau to the 
north world-fjuarter. We are justified in following a sinistral 
circuit in the consideration of the other signs, and following this 
we have the representative signs in turn west, south, and east. 
Seler has given good reasons to accept this assignment, the great 
objection to which seems to be that by considering the sign 
which he calls east we start at the bottom of the page instead of 
the top. or, if we reverse the page, we stand the central figures 
in an unnatural position. There is likewise evidence that the 
quadrant east is properly assigned and its symbol rightly deter- 
mined, from the fact that the rows of day dots begin in that 
world-quarter in the tableau with ymix. which begins the series 
of day signs elsewhere in Codex Cortesianus. 

Recognizing, therefore, that these signs are wOrld-quarter 
symbols, and that they are probably righth' distributed, we find 
that over four almost identical figures of the Long-nosed God 
(19, 20, 21, a*), placed one after the other, the four world-quarter 
symbols occur in the same sequence as by following the sinistral 
circuit of the Tableau des Bacab. In each instance the world- 
<|uarter symbol is accompanied by that of the Long-nosed God. 
It is proper to assume that the four world-quarter symbols refer 



13 l9Qf 



274 THE AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST. [Vol. VII. 

to the Long-nosed God ; theoretically it is possible that the com- 
bination was intended to represent the Long-nosed God of East, 
North, West, and South. There is no authority, no direct evi- 
dence, and other ex^^lanations may be more significant, but 
certainly this has an element of truth from the comparative side : 
four Rain Gods, one behind another, with the symbols of four 
world-quarters above them, represent the four Rain Gods of the 
world-quarters. Among the Tusayan Indians there is a Rain 
God for each cardinal point. 

The association of the snake with the Long-nosed God is not 
without a parallel among the Tusayan pueblo peoples, where the 
plumed serpent is the pet (po'-ke-ma) or servant of O'-moio-dh, 
the Rain God. If the four figures (19, 20, 21, a*) represent the 
Long-nosed Gods of the four cardinal points, with their accom- 
panying pets, we would have a true Pueblo conception. 

The fact, however, that each of these serpents has the body 
in a quadrate figure enclosing falling water, in which is the nu- 
merical sign for eighteen (three bars and three dots), is important, 
and each may represent an epoch of time, for such a method is 
common in Nahuatl representations. (See Clavijero's figure of 
Calendar, p. 265.) I would not say that the latter conception 
was not in the mind of the delineator, but it seems more natural 
to refer these figures to the cardinal world-quarters. This would 
not prevent our accepting the idea, however, that four series, one 
for each cardinal world-quarter, were also intended. 



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